C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.

The Sparrow’s Nest

BEHOLD, within the leafy shade,

Those bright blue eggs together laid!

On me the chance-discovered sight

Gleamed like a vision of delight.

I started—seeming to espy

The home and sheltered bed,

The sparrow’s dwelling, which, hard by

My father’s house, in wet or dry

My sister Emmeline and I

Together visited.

She looked at it and seemed to fear it;

Dreading, though wishing, to be near it:

Such heart was in her, being then

A little prattler among men.

The blessing of my later years

Was with me when a boy:

She gave me eyes, she gave me ears;

And humble cares, and delicate fears;

A heart, the fountain of sweet tears;

And love, and thought, and joy.